The conventional technique of cooking pancakes encompasses the steps of (1) pouring a thin batter onto a flat and normally pre-heated griddle surface, whereby a substantially rounded and flat pad is formed, (2) leaving the batter pad to cook on its downward or first side, (3) flipping the partially-cooked batter pad over, and (4) leaving the batter pad to cook on its opposite or second side. This conventional process normally produces a pancake that has a browned skin or casing on each side.
The dimensions of a pancake cooked by the conventional technique are at least partially controlled by the flow characteristics of the batter and the amount of batter poured. For a given amount of batter poured, a thinner batter will spread out more than a thicker batter, forming a wider and thinner pancake. The spreading of the batter is generally outward from the pouring point, except of course in any direction in which spreading is impeded, such as by a physical barrier. Any partial cooking or heating of the batter during its spreading will modify its flow characteristics and generally slow or diminish spreading.
Conventional pancake cooking techniques using conventional apparatus will not produce multiple pancakes of uniform size, shape and thickness unless there is a stringent uniformity imposed upon all dimension-determining factors, including without limitation the batter's flow characteristics, the amount poured, the temperature of the griddle's surface, and the modification of the batter's flow characteristics by partial cooking or heating during its spreading. Such stringent uniformity would be particularly difficult to achieve, or even approach, when using conventional techniques and conventional apparatus during high-volume manual cooking operations.
A pancake shape other than rounded can of course be produced, but generally only by using a griddle with boundary walls that delineate the desired shape plus enough batter so that it will spread out to such walls from the pouring point.